Understanding Your Resting Metabolism: How many calories does the average person burn a day without exercise?

October 9, 2025 •

4 min read

Up to 70% of your daily calorie burn is used just to maintain basic bodily functions like breathing, circulating blood, and building cells, even when you are completely at rest. This fundamental energy expenditure is what drives the answer to the question: How many calories does the average person burn a day without exercise?

Quick Summary

This article explores the components of your metabolism that account for daily calorie expenditure when no formal exercise is performed. It details the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), and Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), and explains how factors like age, gender, weight, and body composition influence your resting energy burn.

Key Points

BMR is the biggest calorie burner: Your Basal Metabolic Rate, or the energy your body needs just to stay alive at rest, accounts for the majority (60-70%) of your daily calories burned without exercise.
Metabolism slows with age: As people get older, their BMR naturally decreases, primarily due to a loss of muscle mass.
Muscle burns more than fat: People with a higher percentage of lean muscle mass will have a higher BMR than those with more body fat, as muscle is more metabolically active.
Small movements add up significantly: Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), which includes all non-workout movements like fidgeting and walking, can vary by as much as 2000 calories per day between individuals.
Digestion has a caloric cost: The Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) is the energy spent processing food. High-protein meals increase this burn more than high-fat meals.
Gender differences are typical: On average, men burn more calories at rest than women, largely due to differences in body size and muscle mass.

What is Your Daily Calorie Burn Without Exercise?

Your body is a complex machine that is constantly burning energy, even when you are at rest. The total amount of energy your body expends in a 24-hour period is known as your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). This includes all activity, but a significant portion of it occurs before any structured exercise is even considered. The calorie burn that occurs without intentional exercise is primarily made up of three components: Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), and Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT).

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): The Engine's Idle Speed

Basal Metabolic Rate is the minimum number of calories your body needs to function at a basic level while at complete rest. Think of it as the energy required to keep your body's most vital systems—such as your heart, lungs, and brain—running. Your BMR accounts for the largest portion of your daily calorie expenditure, typically around 60-70%. Factors that influence your individual BMR include:

Body Size: Larger bodies have more cells and tissues to maintain, requiring more energy.
Gender: Men generally have a faster metabolism and higher BMR than women, often due to higher levels of muscle mass.
Age: Your BMR decreases with age, primarily due to a natural loss of muscle mass.
Body Composition: Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, meaning people with more lean muscle mass burn more calories at rest.
Genetics: Your inherited genes play a significant role in determining your metabolic rate.
Hormonal Health: Hormones, especially those produced by the thyroid, can greatly affect your metabolism.

Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): The Energy to Digest

The Thermic Effect of Food is the energy your body uses to digest, absorb, and process the nutrients from the food you eat. It represents about 10% of your total daily calorie expenditure. The TEF varies depending on the type of macronutrient consumed:

Protein: Has the highest thermic effect, requiring 20-30% of its calories to be burned during digestion.
Carbohydrates: Require a moderate energy burn for digestion, at around 5-10%.
Fats: Have the lowest thermic effect, with only 0-3% of their calories used for digestion.

Including high-protein and high-fiber foods in your diet can modestly increase your TEF, supporting your overall calorie burn.

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): Small Moves, Big Impact

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating, or purposeful exercise. These are all the little movements that add up throughout the day without you even thinking about them, and they can have a substantial effect on your overall energy balance. Examples of NEAT activities include:

Walking around the office or house.
Doing household chores like cleaning or gardening.
Fidgeting, such as tapping your feet or drumming your fingers.
Taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Standing while working instead of sitting.

NEAT is the most variable component of your daily calorie expenditure and can differ by as much as 2,000 calories per day between two people of similar size. A person with a physically demanding job will have a significantly higher NEAT than someone with a sedentary desk job.

Estimating Your Daily Non-Exercise Calorie Burn

To get a general idea of your personal non-exercise calorie burn, you can first estimate your BMR and then factor in a sedentary activity level. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is a modern and accurate formula for estimating BMR.

Mifflin-St Jeor Equation:

Men: $(10 imes ext{weight in kg}) + (6.25 imes ext{height in cm}) - (5 imes ext{age in years}) + 5$
Women: $(10 imes ext{weight in kg}) + (6.25 imes ext{height in cm}) - (5 imes ext{age in years}) - 161$

Once you have your BMR, you can apply an activity factor. For a person with a sedentary lifestyle (little to no exercise), the activity factor is 1.2.

Calculation: Total Daily Calories (sedentary) = BMR $ imes$ 1.2

This simple calculation provides a baseline estimate of your TDEE without factoring in structured exercise.

Average Calorie Burn Comparisons by Age and Gender

Here is a comparison of average daily basal metabolic rates, which represent the core calorie burn without movement. These are approximate figures and can vary widely based on body composition and individual factors. The values are based on average body sizes for American adults.


Age Group	Average BMR (Men)	Average BMR (Women)
20s	2,020 calories	1,559 calories
30s	1,964 calories	1,516 calories
40s	1,907 calories	1,473 calories
50s	1,850 calories	1,429 calories
60s	1,793 calories	1,386 calories

BMR vs. NEAT vs. TEF: A Comparison


Feature	Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)	Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)	Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
Energy Purpose	Core life functions at rest (breathing, circulation).	Digesting, absorbing, and storing nutrients.	All non-exercise movement (fidgeting, walking).
Contribution to TDEE	60-70%.	Approximately 10%.	Highly variable, up to 2000 kcal difference between people.
Primary Influencers	Age, gender, body size, and muscle mass.	Macronutrient composition (Protein > Carbs > Fat).	Occupation, leisure activities, and daily habits.
Variability	Relatively stable, decreases with age.	Dependent on meal size and composition.	Most variable component; can be intentionally increased.

Conclusion

While formal exercise is often emphasized for calorie burning, the number of calories you burn daily without it is substantial and fundamental to your metabolism. This expenditure is a composite of your BMR, TEF, and NEAT. Understanding the differences between these components and the factors that influence them allows for a more comprehensive approach to nutrition and weight management. Your body's constant energy use for basic functions is the baseline, and even small increases in daily, non-exercise movement can add up over time to create a meaningful difference in your overall calorie expenditure.

For a deeper dive into the science of metabolism and energy expenditure, you can visit the Cleveland Clinic's detailed health resources. Here's How Many Calories You Naturally Burn in a Day.

Frequently Asked Questions

The average BMR can vary significantly. For instance, based on US averages, a 30-year-old man may have a BMR of around 1,964 calories, while a 30-year-old woman's BMR is approximately 1,516 calories. These are just estimates and depend on individual factors.

You can use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation to estimate your BMR using your weight, height, age, and gender. Then, for a sedentary lifestyle, you multiply your BMR by an activity factor of 1.2 to get an estimate of your total daily calories burned without formal exercise.

Yes, if you consume too few calories, your body can go into 'starvation mode' and slow down your metabolic rate to protect itself from losing weight.

Yes, genetics can play a role in determining your basal metabolic rate, which is why metabolic rates can differ significantly among individuals, even under similar conditions.

NEAT is extremely important for weight management because it is the most variable component of your daily energy expenditure. Increasing your NEAT, through small daily movements, can have a cumulative impact on your total calories burned over time.

Yes, stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine can temporarily increase your metabolic rate. However, this effect is often modest and short-lived.

Yes, even individuals of the same age, sex, and body size can have metabolic rates that vary. Factors like body composition (muscle vs. fat), genetics, and hormonal differences account for these variations.